TBATE-ALLIANCE

Chapter 17

Caera Denoir POV

The night was eerily quiet. There wasn't even a light breeze, and the air felt dead calm. It was pitch black tonight, with a new moon in the sky providing zero ambient light, making tonight perfect for an ambush.

I knelt on the ground, looking straight ahead, hearing the subtle sound of soldiers moving around as we took our positions. We were on top of the Etril plateau, setting up to strike the supply base Seris told us about.

The base was approximately five hundred yards ahead of us and was significantly larger than anything we had taken before. The thick walls stood two hundred feet high, with soldiers, ballistae, and catapults on top. A sizeable wide iron door stood in front of the castle, with a portcullis in front of it. Several barricades were placed in front of the castle door in a serpentine pattern to prevent enemy artillery from approaching.

I looked behind me at the sound of shuffling, seeing several soldiers kneeling while others were still climbing up. Callum and Lyra had set up several rope ladders so our troops could climb to the top of the plateau. We didn't want to use tempus warps, as the lights from the devices would give away our position and alert the enemy to an attack.

I heard flapping and jumped slightly when something landed on my left shoulder. My head snapped to the left, and I physically relaxed seeing Seraphina perched on my shoulder.

I smiled, "Hey, girl."

I gently patted the top of her head, earning a soft, happy screech from her.

"Caera."

I looked to my right, seeing Sevren approach me. I was still slightly annoyed with him, but I knew I had to push that away now. I couldn't let myself become distracted by petty emotions.

"What is it?" I asked.

Sevren knelt beside me, "Lyra said almost all of the soldiers are staged on top of the plateau. We'll wait for Callum and Lyra to arrive, then we'll begin our attack."

I nodded at Sevren and looked forward, mentally preparing myself for the battle. We waited a few minutes until I noticed Callum and Lyra subtly fly over. Lyna landed next to Sevren while Callem landed beside me. Callum and I shared a quick look and a smile before we looked at Sevren.

"All our troops are on top of the plateau," Lyra reported.

"Good," Sevren said before looking at Callum. "Did you finish your scout?"

Callum nodded, "Heavy defenses, as expected. Behind the walls is another set of barricades with troops taking defensive positions. In fact, the base is basically a large circle that has three barricade rings and soldiers staged that lead to the interior of the base. The interior of the base where the command center is has another wall around it, which is the same size as the outer wall. That wall also has soldiers, catapults, and ballistae staged on top."

Sevren looked slightly surprised and looked at the base, "Well, shit." He grabbed his chin and narrowed his eyes, looking deep in thought. "Alright, change of plans. We'll attack as one group and head straight toward the center of the base." Sevren looked at Lyra, "Lyra, you'll head for the interior of the base and weaken their defenses for the main force when we arrive." Sevren looked at Callum, "Callum, you'll take out the surrounding defenses and any troop reinforcements inside the base. The less resistance the main force faces, the faster we can get to the interior of the base. Everyone understand?"

We all nodded.

"Good. Also, don't forget that we don't want to destroy the supplies if we don't have to. We can use them to our benefit, after all. Now, let's get ready," Sevren said.